Fact Check- Did Shubman Gill Deliberately Remove Sanju Samson From T20 World Cup Win Post?

Shubman Gill [Source: AFP and X.com]

India's ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill has come under the spotlight following his recent social media activity. India recently achieved a historic milestone by winning the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final against New Zealand. The final match was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 8.

The Indian team delivered an excellent all-round performance with both bat and ball. As a result, they defeated New Zealand by a huge margin of 96 runs. With this victory, India became the first team in the history of the tournament to successfully defend their T20 World Cup title.

Sanju Samson’s outstanding tournament performance

One of the standout performers for India during the tournament was Sanju Samson. Although he did not start the tournament as a regular member of the playing XI, he made the most of the opportunities he received.

Whenever he was included in the team, Samson delivered strong and match-winning performances. The Kerala-batter ended the tournament as India’s highest run-scorer despite playing only five matches. He scored 321 runs at an impressive average of 80.25. Notably, for his stellar performances, Samson was awarded the Player of the Tournament.

It is important to note that before the T20 World Cup, there were some changes in India’s squad. At one stage, Shubman Gill had replaced Sanju Samson at the top of the batting order in the Asia Cup squad.

Also Read: Not Sanju Samson! AB de Villiers Names Deserving T20 World Cup POTM Winner

However, when the final World Cup squad was announced, Gill eventually lost his place in the team. Later, Samson returned to the top of the order during India’s series against New Zealand before the World Cup, which helped him prepare for the tournament.

The viral claim about the edited photo

After India’s victory, a photo shared by Shubman Gill on social media started circulating online. Some fans claimed that Gill had edited the picture and removed Sanju Samson from it because he was jealous of Samson taking his place in the team.

These claims quickly spread on social media, leading many users to question whether the photo had actually been edited.

Mahi Patel

@Mahi_Patel_07

🚨 Shame on Shubman Gill 🚨 Gill edited a photo he posted on Instagram and removed Sanju Samson from it. What is the point of erasing the Player of the Tournament from a picture? If India won the T20 WC, Sanju Samson played one of the biggest roles in that victory. It’s

Mar 12, 2026, 8:22 PM

Fact Check: Was Sanju Samson removed from the picture?

A closer look at the situation shows that the claim is not true. The same picture shared by Gill was also posted by other Indian cricketers, including Shivam Dube and Ravichandran Ashwin. This indicates that the image was a genuine photo taken during the celebrations.

In addition, Yashasvi Jaiswal also shared the same photo in his congratulatory post. This further proves that the image was one of many pictures taken during the team celebrations.

Some fans compared Gill’s photo with another picture posted by Suryakumar Yadav and claimed that Samson had been removed. However, both images were actually different photos taken at different moments. Therefore, there is no evidence that Gill edited the image.

Looking ahead, both Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson will soon be seen in action in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026), which begins on March 28. Gill will lead the Gujarat Titans, while Samson will represent the CSK after a major trade deal involving Ravindra Jadeja.

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